American Olympians were making a case that this was supposed to be the Year of the Woman.
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Most of the US swim team was in the stands to watch Phelps’ finale, including the biggest female star of the games, Katie Ledecky, decked out in a matching United States of America white jacket and cap. Dusmatov on Friday beat American Nico Hernandez, who will get bronze and end a medal drought for the US that stretched to 2008.
And the women’s soccer team arrived at the games in pursuit of gold after a yearlong fight to be paid the same as their male counterparts.
But audiences aren’t feeling a golden glow watching the accomplishments. These are the best athletes in the world, and sometimes they have a lot to say, even if some of it is offensive.
The pair’s powerful performances came on a day the Rio Games turned aside the disconcerting lime-like waters at the aquatics center and toward the emerald green fairways as golf returned to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years. She certainly has nothing to complain about after winning two golds, a silver and a bronze in Rio. She is married to Chicago Bears defensive end Mitch Unrein.
“This is something I’ll be proud of the rest of my life, and what Bradley’s done to win five (gold medals) is out of this world”, Doull said.
With the cooler weather, away went the bare skin and out came the full leggings and long-sleeve shirts in beach volleyball as temperatures dipped into the lower 60s after sunset, the coldest night yet. He was still the same ruthless competitor, but he was also willing to join in when some of his younger teammates made a carpool karaoke video at their final training camp in Atlanta.
Each comment is pounced upon as a dig against women, that they aren’t as athletic – important? – as men, but that tone was set long before the games even opened.
About half the official competitions in those games had only American entrants, and some historians have suggested that even some of the athletes who are listed as part of the US team likely were newly arrived immigrants who either hadn’t become citizens yet or never actually completed that process.
LOGISTICS: Traveling to different venues has been a nightmare at times, largely because Rio is separated by mountains and Brazil’s highways often look more like parking lots.
NBC executives said on a Thursday conference call that 55 percent of its 18-and-over viewers for the Rio Olympics are women.
“I think what it means is we have just a great sporting culture and a really fantastic system of sport in our country”, said Alan Ashley, the USOC chief of sport performance.
Lochte is skeptical about his plans for retirement and he said on the Today show on Friday that he wants a rematch at the next games. “In most of these cases, they’ve been addressed very quickly by the talent themselves”. He wanted no part in talking to us. It’s impossible to know why its striking such a nerve now, but it could be that disgruntled viewers have been offended before, only now have multiple social platforms to talk about it.
But it’s on social media where the tot is shining the brightest.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – This is goodbye for Michael Phelps. “If Dan Hicks had quoted Hosszú and said she credited her husband for her success, then you are being a reporter”.
In football, American goalkeeper Hope Solo lashed out at Sweden as “cowards” as the 2004, 2008 and 2012 women’s football gold medallists and reigning world champions went out 4-3 on penalties. While the men are celebrated for blowing out opponents, big victories by the women usually lead to questions about whether or not the big margins are bad for the game.
There’s something to be said for the camaraderie displayed by the American team. “It’s easy to step up and play the people that are ranked higher than you. They’re supposed to entertain you”.
The men’s 10,000 kicks off with Farrah the dominant athlete.
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“To do it in one of the most watched races in the history of swimming, Michael’s last race – that’s something I am going to cherish forever”, Murphy said of the 51.85 seconds he swam to eclipse Peirsol’s 51.94 set in the bodysuit era in 2009.
